Does Clothesline Sag Affect Laundry Load Capacity? Find Out Here!

[dvyu]

I am not sure how to tell whether a clothes line loaded with wet laundry would be more likely to break if had a significant sag or if it had almost no sag at all.

 

[Doc Al]

What determines when the clothesline will break?

 

[dvyu]

how do you tell though

so the if a rope has greater tension, it will be more likely to break??

 

[Doc Al]

Exactly. Assume the rope can supply a certain maximum tension (its breaking strength). Which situation requires greater tension?

Imagine a 3 m rope supporting a 10 kg mass hung in the center. Compare the tension created if the rope sags 1 cm versus sagging 10 cm. Which implies the greater rope tension?

 

[dvyu]

thank you so much or your help - so i hve found that the greater the sag, the less the tension and therefore the less the sag the more likely it is to break. Thanks again.

 

[WolfOfTheSteps]

I remember reading in a book that some student's at the author's school (Stanford) tied a rope between two windows and attached a keg to it. They used all their might to get the keg as high off the ground as possible (increasing the tension) and they ended up tearing the window out of the wall in the process!

Maybe that will help you to never forget this physical fact.

 

[dvyu]

Wow - that made me laugh - I think that will help to remember - thank you